What To Do About Water in Your Crawl Space

8/14/2018 (Permalink)

There are lots of ways a flood can affect your home. A crawl space is underneath your feet, making it easy to forget about. It’s meant to give you access to wiring, HVAC and plumbing, so a wet crawl space can be dangerous. Here’s how you can repair it and not let it sink your week.

Repair

Water from flooding can easily move into crawl spaces below thanks to any cracks in the foundation. A professional service can thoroughly repair cracks and ensure that the foundation remains sound. On your own, you can repair leaks and inspect gutters, drainage and grading to make sure they’re not part of the problem.

Clean Up and Take Care

Once you've established you have a wet crawl space, you should remove debris and replace wet insulation. You may also need to take some of the follow precautions to avoid future floods:

? Install a sump pump.
? Insulate cold water pipes with foam pipe insulation so condensation won’t form, as well as to prevent freezing.
? Apply a vapor barrier over the floor and up the wall; condition your crawl space to avoid heat loss, air problems, mold growth and structural and duct damage.
? If you have mold, a professional is equipped to safely and thoroughly handle those issues.

Ventilate

Unlike a home with a concrete slab foundation, with a crawl space, you don’t have to excavate in order to resolve a pipe leak. Being smaller than a basement makes it far easier to handle when there’s flooding.

However, improper ventilation can lead to moisture moving up into the home, rotting structures and a spurring a growth in mold and fungi. To get air moving, you should consider installing the following:

? An air vent leading from your HVAC system
? An exhaust fan to move the air outside
? A dehumidifier

A wet crawl space can occur even with the best prevention methods. A professional water cleanup and restoration service is best able to handle any mold or structural issues that you cannot resolve on your own. For more information, visit http://www.SERVPROnorman.com/.